A Star Wars game that has nothing to do with either the Jedi or epic space battles should be an interesting digression, which is kind of the case with LucasArts' squad-based first-person shooter Star Wars Republic Commando. An attempt to show what the Clone Wars were like for the clone warriors who fought it, Republic Commando focuses on an elite special-ops commando unit of "pod brothers" who do all the covert-infiltration search-and-destroy stuff that's apparently necessary even though your army is led by powerful telepathic telekinetics with swords of energized plasma. Once players get past that leap in logic, if possible, they should be prepared to assume the identity of Commando 1-138 (groan for those in the know), meet their clone brethren, and strap in for… a perfectly middle-of-the-road gaming experience.
That's a shame, because the squad of super-trooper-quadruplets you work with manages just fine. They take cover, use the right weapon for the job at hand, and stay out of each other's way even without specific orders. They even, in a new and an interesting gameplay mechanic, resuscitate you when you're killed. When players play strategically—taking the time to set up a sniper and an anti-armor position just so, in order to support the demolitions expert setting his bomb—they're helped out by the game's well-done system of simple and comprehensive commands. That strategy will likely prove effective, thanks not only to the excellent squad AI, but also to the enemies' tendency to attack in a blind suicidal rush. It's never a good sign when a game's toughest moments are due to healthier bad guys, rather than smarter ones.